Freshly Caught Cornish Pixies

subject clauses are in bold, predicative ones are underlined

In this post I am going to discover pixies, though my reasonable expectation is that everybody reading this post is more or less familiar with those mischievous little creatures. It is as though the generation(s) of Harry Potter must remember the episode featuring Harry’s meeting these magical jerks.

 Well, for starters, what is needed to be said is what the pixies are. They are mythical creatures of folklore, believed to be short and attractively childlike guys who are extremely fond of dancing, wrestling, making a fuss and other activities involving energy and mischievousness as those are their most prominent characteristics. Where the pixies stories were particularly popular is the high moorland areas around Devon and Cornwall, what suggests a possible Celtic origin. Thanks to Disney and modern animation we can often see them with pointed ears and wearing a pointed hat, as well as a green outfit, although traditional folk tales describe them wearing dirty rags who is always eager to get a piece of clothing as a gist. (Dobby!)

Another interesting fact about pixies is that they maintain deep long-running feud with fairies. In some areas some tribe was believed to have won and to be ‘reigning’.

What seems absolutely fascinating about any folklore tales is that they may seem creepy but in fact are so characteristic of people and metaphorical. For instance, there were lots of homely beliefs filled with the accounts of pixies naughty behavior at home. Still, their image was never frightening. (It is most understandable that people tend to be extremmely reluctunt to inhabit their lodgings with really creepy things. Let Jenny live in a bog.) 

Pixies were also belived to be helpful from time to time, helping needy widows and others with housework. They also involved children into their merry playing and dancing. Nevertheless, like any other folklore form, they have their dark side: a reputation for misleading travellers (the remedy for being ‘pixy-led’ is to turn your coat inside out, just like in some Slavonic beliefs).

If we try and imagine the world of the medieval peasantry, we can see it was densely inhabited not only by humans but also by vague forces representing phenomena that were unfamiliar. Either it was productive or ruining was of no importance, whatever it was didn’t matter – it must have had a name, so people made up piles of folklore material we now may address seeking for inspiration J